Hi Larry - Thanks. I worked 5 years for Houston Based Company overseas. Received W2 from Houston office and paid US Income Taxes. Neither my employer or my self - no body paid into Social Security.
I did not know about benefits. Now I work locally and realized I am not qualified for Social Security benefits because I have only paid into 4 years.
Can a big corporation get away with this, they deducted my taxes, gave me W2 but did not pay into my SS.
Please advise.

Hi. There are different types of tax withholdings, and you only get Social Security credits for earnings on which you paid Social Security taxes. If your employer withheld Social Security taxes from your wages, then they should have reported your earnings to Social Security. In that case you can get credit for those earnings by showing copies of your W-2 forms to Social Security. However, if your employer only withheld income taxes and not Social Security taxes, then your employment situation probably made your wages exempt from Social Security taxes. And in that case, you can't receive Social Security credit for those earnings.

Best, Jerry